


Oh Heaven knows we belong way down low

by A_Curious_Crow



Category: Supernatural, The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Demon!Rick, F/M, Hunter!Dixons, Kinda follows TWD storyline, Lucifer is mentioned in passing, M/M, Slow burn for Rickyl, You dont need to watch Supernatrual to read this, but it'll happen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-22
Updated: 2014-11-06
Packaged: 2018-02-22 03:55:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2493473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Curious_Crow/pseuds/A_Curious_Crow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rick Grimes was a well respected and all around good man, so when a child is killed by his automobile at a crossroads he was willing to do anything to take it back; even sell his soul to wandering crossroads demon. Ten years was given to him and the child, and when the clock ticked down Rick was taken to Hell, and over decades on earth and what was centuries in Hell, what made Rick Grimes who he was got washed away, torn to pieces, burned to cinders and stitched back together in nasty little black pieces. But that was some time ago, and now trying find humanity again he's just a man looking for his family, and finds a bit more in the form of a Hunter, one of those that made it their job to exterminate all the things that go bump in the night.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Black-eyed man

**Author's Note:**

> Summery is long, but it sums up the story pretty well I feel. I'm sticking to the story line of TWD for the most part, and as I said in the tags you really don't need to know anything about Supernatural as I've tried to make it mostly independent from that while keeping some aspects of demons and hunters the same, but explained in the fic as needed. A character in Supernatural - Lucifer - is mentioned in passing, as I felt it odd if Rick didn't think about it a little, and I am blaming the outbreak on Lucifer, but it's not hugely important to the story as the zombies are exactly as how they are in TWD.  
> This is un-beta'ed so all mistakes are mine and mine alone.  
> I do not claim any rights to either Supernatural or The Walking Dead series nor it's characters.

The off-white and slightly moldy ceiling above was the first thing he saw when he finally came back to his body. Rick would have never suspected he’d be happy to see that, but it beat the fire and brimstone he had been forcibly re-acquainted with. It was hard to tell how long it’s been since his run in with the hunter that shot him and exorcised him. In Hell, especially after being exorcised back, it was a torrent of black and pain and fire, the only prominent thing being the overwhelming surge of wrongness and need to escape once again, which unfortunately served to make his awakening only more jarring.

Rick struggled to sit up, and tried and failed to rejuvenate his body and strength, and with frustration found himself too weak to. This body had been his when he was alive and human decades ago, and it had cost no small amount of favors and rituals to bring back, like hell was he just going to leave it because he would have to be weak for a small time.

Still a pain in the ass though.

Huffing as he stood, he gained his footing with the help of his IV pole, only to lose it and crash to the ground. Feeling even more disoriented on the ground he swallowed down his pride and called out.  
“Nurse! Nurse help,” no help came however, and Rick laid on the floor for a few moments before finally forcing himself up.

Stumbling to the door he opened it only to be slammed with a feeling of wrongness and the stink of death that rivaled even Hell and the answer to the confusion that had been mounting inside of himself finally came. As he made his way down the empty, razed, and bloodied hallways his suspicions of the answer became more and more realistic seeming.

Seeing the torn apart woman when he looked through windowed doors to another hallway did not surprise him or unnerve him, but only helped solidify his theory. It was hard to be unnerved seeing a dead thing torn apart when you've felt the pain of being torn apart yourself, and without the blanket of death when it became too much.

It was the doors however, labeled ominously as ‘Don’t Open, Dead Inside’ and the growling and pale fingers peeking though that confirmed it for him beyond a reason of a doubt.

Rick had known Lucifer had risen months ago, it would have been impossible for him to not know. The pull in his being, the urge to go to his creator, his shaper, his maker and serve with everything he had was nearly too much to resist sometimes. But it was Lori and Carl who kept him on the straight and narrow and who unknowingly prevented him from going to Lucifer.

Not that it seems to have mattered, as it was obvious now what had happened as Rick’s body had slept and Rick himself had been away. Lucifer now occupies his true vessel, and was in complete power, and seemingly working on wiping out the humans in the world.

Rick had heard whispers of Croatoan while in Hell, but had paid the foreign word no mind. He could only imagine this was what it was, or the name for what was happening.

Either way what happened has happened, and Rick cared only now of finding his family before they too were claimed by this ‘Croatoan’ disease.

With some struggle Rick got out of the abandoned hospital, and was faced with the rows upon rows of bodies. He walked through the rows without much of a glance, and continued on his slow walk to his home. Along the way he passed the half body of a decayed and torn apart girl, or at least he assumed, and got his first chance to really look at one of the creatures up-close. He felt his lip rise slightly with repulsion as it pawed and snapped at him, despite desensitization to nearly everything, and despite being undead himself, the uncomfortable feeling under his skin was only getting worse as he looked at the creature.

So Rick took the bike nearby the half-monster and unsteadily rode it back to his home. The ride back went quick but he was feeling his concern for Lori and Carl rise with every body and broken home he passed.

Rick got off the bike and entered his house to find it empty, in his more detached and demonly mind he knew that of course they left, they were only human after all and likely fled as soon as possible, as was reasonable for their weaker position, but it hadn't stopped Rick from hoping that they might have lingered for him to find. He searched the house high and low, and found only half empty drawers and disappeared family pictures, but no note or anything to show where they were going.

Most emotions were difficult to rise within Rick, and negatives like sadness and disappointment gave quickly to anger, like now. A pang of hopelessness and despair coursed through him, but frustration and rage overtook it and Rick overturned chairs and the table in the dining room with a noise that more closely resembled a roar than a shout.

Pacing, Rick ran his hands through his hair trying to just think of what to do and where to go. After a few moments he decided his destination and left his house for what could possibly be the last time, and got back on the bike and rode to the police station.

Inside the station was a singular Croat, and whatever energy Rick had regained he spent dispatching it by telepathically pinning it to the wall as he found a shard of glass to stab it with. From this he learned not only are the Croats, Zombies, Undead, whatever they were, easier to pin than normal humans, but they were also harder to kill, the thing that seemed it once was a fledgling police officer only went down after he shoved the glass shard though it’s eye socket.

Panting slightly he made his way to the locker room to grab a proper uniform and shower. Rick remembered faintly when he was human the small feelings of pleasure in normal things like hot water, but ever since he rose again able to make his eyes black and move things with only his power of will, things like warm showers and being nicely shaven did little for him. But still out of the need to blend in and now habit he continued to do these things.

Dressed and clean he looted the armory, taking the majority of the guns and ammo, filling a duffle bag close to bursting. Finally he made his way to the back lot where they parked the police cars, easily finding one with the keys and tossed the bag into it. Growling and the clink of the chain link fence caught his attention to see one of the younger and more reckless officers that had been turned into one of the undead. The thought of the kid deserving more than that passed through Rick’s mind before the more demonic side squashed it. What did it matter anyway? The kid got bit, and that further proved his carelessness in danger, there was no deserving nor justice, and it wasn't Rick’s place to try to administer it.

Opening the gate he walked to the car and drove purposely past the young and now dead officer, and down the road, quickly deciding if anywhere nearby held a refuge it would be at the state's heart: Atlanta. As he drove past where he found the bike the thought of mercy for the half-girl also crossed his mind, but just like the young officer Rick did nothing but keep on keepin on.  
Rick had made it a good way before the fumes the patrol car had been running on finally ran out. So gas can and hose in hand and duffle bag of guns slung over his shoulder, Rick set out to find another ride or at least some gas for his previous one.

Passing through a large number of cars and putting down a walking undead child he made his way to a farm home, and without bothering to see if anyone was alive or undead inside he went around back to see what he could scavenge. It wasn't until he heard a nervous whinny that he turned and saw the horse.

“‘Suppose that could work,” he muttered as he walked in it’s direction. Animals tended to be more perceptive than humans, and their reactions to Rick ranged from nervousness to outright aggression. There once was a K-9 shepard that would work herself into a frenzy whenever Rick was near, and no one but Rick himself could ever figure out why. It was time however to try to win over this horse’s affection despite it’s obvious discomfort of the demon’s presence.

Walking through the gate the horse skirted farther away, but kept taking a step forward and then a step back, apparently unsure if the human comfort and care was worth the uneasy feeling. With some coaxing with hay he found in the barn after some time Rick was able to get the horse near and to pet and calm her enough to let her be more confident enough to allow him to ride her.

Rick rode the rest of the way to Atlanta, but once he got inside the city he started wondering if he had made the wrong call. It was easy to see the sleeping undead, as they shifted and stirred when they heard the clopping of the mare’s hooves as they passed.

Overhead was the beating sound of something that seemed now so out of place in the quiet, dying world, that for a second he couldn't place it. But then it came suddenly to him and he looked to the sky for the helicopter that was the source of the sound. Rick urged the horse into a run after the helicopter, all carefulness gone in pursuit of what might be finally the first solid lead he could have.

His earlier suspicions that he had made the wrong call were proven to be true, however, when he turned a corner on the mare and came face to face with a wall of walkers. With a startled winnie the mare skidded to a stop and it was all Rick could do to turn the horse and let it break into a dead sprint away from the mass of walkers, only to run into another crowd that had been following behind them.  
When the mare reared back as it was overtaken it threw Rick off and went down with a terrified scream. He scrambled under a nearby tank that had evidently been abandoned in the street and there were walkers everywhere around him, and although he was a demon he didn't like the situation he was in. If the body he was in was destroyed his hopes and chances of reuniting with Carl and Lori were destroyed with it.

Trying to keep steady he drew out his pistol he had previously put into the belt of his uniform and shot at the walkers attempting to crawl after him as he scrambled farther and farther underneath the tank.  
The revolver only had six shots in it and there were more than six after him, so after firing the sixth one out he closed his eyes and let his head hit the ground in despair and anger at the hopelessness of the situation.

“I’m sorry Lori, Carl.” Rick uttered the words as he prepared to flee the body he’d always known as his own. Opening his eyes and mouth to escape, he found another option of escape. In a fluid motion, moving before any conscious thought had been made, he pulled himself though the bottom hatch of the tank and inside of it and then quickly closed the opening behind him.


	2. When a predator is hunted

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For now I'm using the episodes as a structure, but it's kinda like training wheels, once everything's set up the dialogue and events will become more and more original.  
> And by the way thank you all for such a positive response to the last chapter!

Greeted with the sight of a dead soldier upon entering, Rick sat trying to orient himself once again, it was only when the slow almost sleepy growling of a rousing walker that took him out of his internal haze.

It was only a slight struggle to grab the gun off the walker and shoot it, but the noise that reverberated off the small tank’s interior due to the gunshot was enough to daze the demon, although only momentarily.

As Rick once again regained his bearings with the soft thumping of Croats on the tank’s hull in the background he tried to figure out what to do next. The immediate danger, or at least the two-inches-away-from-being-bitten danger, has been turned to slightly less immediate, but unless he found a way out the ending would likely have to be the same.

A serious downfall of having his original body was he was a slave to it’s needs and functions, if he was completely well and restored he could fall out of a building and then heal his body and be fine, but he still had to occasionally eat and breathe, and as he slowly realized, the longer he was in it on earth the more frequent these things had to be done.

It helped to camouflage Rick so that no one, even Lori, suspected the truth. Although she did find a few things about his behavior a little odd, he was always able to hide the truth from her. But the little inconveniences that helped hide him in the human world now proved to be a large hindrance in the new one that was being created now.

As he tried to think of a way out of the mess he found himself in, Rick started to question if it was worth the struggle, after all he had tried to be human, had tried to find his humanity once again, only to hear those Latin words and have everything fall apart. Was Lori worth the struggle of finding his way to her, only to most likely find her dead? And besides, it seemed there was a new world order that he no longer needed to hide in, and if he went now, Rick could possibly be accepted back into the ranks of Hell.

Rick allowed himself to think for a moment how freeing it would be to be able to do whatever he wanted again, no worries of hiding himself, or obligations except to those of his creator.

“Hey, dumbass,” the crackling of the radio was so unexpected Rick wasn't sure what it was until the voice came on, “yeah, you in the tank. Cozy in there?”

“You alive in there?” That questioning finally spurred him to lunge out and grab the radio speaker.

“Hello?” Fumbling with it for a second he was finally able to respond.

“There you are, you had me wondering.” Were the words that followed after a relieved sigh, already Rick knew from the voice it was a young man, with apparently a bleeding heart, but he wasn't about to complain.

“Where are you, are you outside? Can you see me right now?”

“Yeah I can see you, and the swarm of walkers around you, that's the bad news.”

“Got any good news for me?”

“No.”

“Alright, look I don’t mind tellin’ ya I’m a little concerned in here.” Rick was beginning to lose his temper a bit with the kid’s run around, but it seemed he was going to have to be patient if he wanted to get out with his body in tact.

“Oh you should see it from this side, you would be having a major freak-out.”

Gripping the radio speaker just a little tighter Rick was forced to look away and take a breath. Was the kid just sadistic, wanting to be the doom teller to a dying man, or was he actually thinking of a way of helping before Rick died of old age. Which would be quite the feat considering Rick was near immortal.

“You got any advice for me?”

“Yeah, I’d say make a run for it.”

Well that’s simple. The choice of telling the kid to leave him alone, that he’d figure it out himself, was tempting, but pushing himself to hear the kid out Rick pressed the button to speak once again.  
“That it? Make a run for it?”

“Hey, my way isn’t as dumb as it sounds. You got eyes on the outside here. There’s one geek still on the tank but the rest have gone to join the feeding frenzy where the horse went down. You with me so far?” Rick grudgingly started to see what the kid was saying. Play it right and making a run for it might just work.

“So far.”

“Okay, the street on the other side of the tank is less crowded, if you go now while they're distracted you may just have a chance. Have you got ammo?” The duffel bag. Shit.

“In the duffel bag, I dropped it when the horse went down; can I get it?”

“Forget the bag, it isn't an option. You got anything else?” Rick quickly checked the magazine in the gun he pulled from the dead soldier in the tank. On the whim of a thought he also checked the soldier again, and came up with nothing until he looked up to see a hand grenade. Not something he could use right now, but if it came down to the wire maybe later he could at least have this body go out with a bang.

No reason the kid needed to know though, so he crawled back to the radio.

“I got a Beretta, one clip, fifteen rounds.”

“Make them count. Go out the top of the tank and go right and keep going maybe fifty yards until you get to an alley. Be there.”

With the plan now in his head Rick took only a short moment to center himself, then burst out of the top of the tank. Just as the kid had said there was still a Croat on the tank, and despite wanting to just push it away with a burst of telekinesis, he was now keenly aware of eyes on him, so Rick wasted a bullet into it’s skull. Breaking into a dead sprint to the right of the tank Rick avoided the walkers he could, and shot the ones he couldn't. Making his way down the street with walkers chasing, and a bad leg slowing him, he got as far as the kid said he should and turned his gun on the movement the popped out in front of him.

“No! Not dead, come on, come on!” Without time to think Rick followed the kid and ran down the alleyway and up the ladder. When they got to the platform they both stood and panted for a moment; despite needing less air the exertion was getting to Rick, in all likelihood he may even have to sleep for an hour.

Christ, how far he’s fallen.

“Nice moves there Clint Eastwood. You the new sheriff, come to clean up the town or something?” The kid’s words were laced with scorn, but his assessing gaze wasn't unfriendly, and sticking with him was very likely the best if not only choice Rick had at the moment.

“That was not my intention.” Rick bit back through gritted teeth, although the roughness of his voice seemed to mask his underlying hostility.

“Yeah whatever, yeehaw, you’re still a dumbass.” The kid didn't seem bad, near everyone rubbed Rick the wrong way, even when the world was civilized, so it wasn't anything he hasn't had to get past before, and the kid was, for now at least, someone Rick was willing to work with. So with the conscious decision to play nice he stuck his hand out.

“Rick. Thanks for saving me.” Eyeing Rick’s hand warily, the kid took it.

“Glenn, and you’re welcome.” With the show of politeness some of the tension in the young man seemed to ebb out, at least until he turned to look at the final portion of the fire escape. “On the bright side, it’ll be the fall that kills us.”

Maybe for the kid, but Rick swallowed dowb that comment with practiced ease. Looking at the ladder to the sky, and then at the walkers below, he climbed on after Glenn.

Following right after Glenn across the roof's, down the ladder, and through the building to another alley and saw as the kid pulled out a portable radio and talked into it.

“Got a guest, plus four geeks in the alley.” Before he could have a chance to ask who Glenn was talking to they came to a stop at the end of the stairs they had been running down and in full sight of the croats.

It was then the door on the opposite wall opened and two people rushed out in security gear and took out the walkers in a rush as Rick ran with Glenn with one hand on his gun past them.

“Son of a bitch, we should kill you.” The door had only just shut when his shirt was grabbed and he felt the cold muzzle of a gun being pushed into his face. Itching to defend himself but unwilling to risk his position with the first survivors he’s met, Rick held his peace and leaned away from the gun as much as possible.

Rick was also forced to fight against himself, the urge to let his eyes flicker black, let his aggressor know just what they were dealing with. But he had been in these situations before with being a cop in his second civilized life, and fought back the sensation that was not unsimilar to that of needing to simply blink.

“Just chill out Andrea.” One of the humans in security gear who was currently taking it off spoke up, looking more irritated than concerned. It was then Rick noticed the safety on the gun was on, so if she did try to carry out her threat nothing would come of it, except adding her to Rick’s shit-list.

“Come on, ease up.” Another woman with the group backed the first man who had spoken.

“You have got to be kidding me right? We’re dead because of this asshole.” There was fear in her eyes, it outweighed her fury, and the latter was likely the reaction of the former. The man with dark curly hair rushed up to her, irritation seemingly growing.

“Andrea, I said back the hell off. Or pull the trigger.” It was only then that Andrea turned away with a face that showed she might cry. Out of the corner of his eye Rick could see that Glenn was visibly relieved, at which Rick felt slight confusion, after all they had only just met. But it seemed unsurprising as the kid had also went out of his way to save a man he didn't know.

Rick chalked it up to a bleeding heart, and considered asking later why Glenn had saved him, but only if they got out of here whole.

“We’re dead, we’re all dead because of you.” The blonde rounded on him again, but without the gun this time.

Confused as to why he was responsible for their hopeless futures Rick looked around to try it find out from their faces, but they all ranged from irritation, sadness, to just being closed off. The thought of reaching out into their minds crossed his own, but he shut it down in favor of just asking.

“I don’t understand.” A hand grabbed his arm and he was being dragged by the curly black haired man.

The man explained how they had been sneaking around, tip-toeing, and how the commotion Rick had made stirred up the walkers and now made it nearly impossible for them to move around and escape. As he explained he was dragging Rick into a storefront and instantly the wall of walkers outside the glass doors caught his attention, and he figured their anger made a bit more sense now.

“What were you doing out there anyhow?” The blonde, Andrea, asked Rick, and he answered without looking away from the doors.

“I was chasing the helicopter.”

“Helicopter? Man that's crap, there weren't no damn helicopter.” The second man that had come out with security gear on asked him and drew Rick’s attention away from the walkers.

“It was just a hallucination, you were imagining things.” The black haired woman’s calm dismissal of what Rick had seen drew out some of his aggression. Maybe a human would have been hallucinating, but not him, not a demon.

“I saw it.” No one willing to fight Rick’s obvious stubbornness the first man turned to the second bald one.

“Hey T-dog, try to radio the others.”

“Others?”

Before an answer came shots rang out above them, causing everyone to look up.

“Shit was that Dixon?” The rest of the group started running in one direction, leaving Rick no choice but to follow them up to the roof and store his question of others for later.

Arriving at the roof Morales charged across the walkway to the man standing on the corner of the roof armed with a rifle.

“Dixon, are you crazy?” An answering laugh and another shot before the man with the rifle turned to answer Morales.

“Hey hey, you oughta be more polite to a man with a gun.” Carelessly swinging and pointing the weapon as he talked the man jumped off the edge of the roof and took a few lazy steps forward. “Only common sense.”

“You wastin bullets we don't even got man!” T-dog backed up Morales against Dixon, and Rick was starting to see this was only the most recent irritation between the men.

“Hey, bad enough I got this taco-vendor on my ass all day, now I gotta take orders from you? I don’t think so bro. That’ll be the day.”

“That’ll be the day? You got something you wanna tell me?” T-dog was going on the defensive now, and Rick had seen enough fights before to know this was one a long time coming and that would be impossible to intervene in. Looking to Glenn he only got a head shake in response.

“You wanna know the day? I’ll tell you the day ‘Mr. Yo’, it’ll be the day I take orders from a nigger.” And thus the fight began with T-dog taking a swing only to be knocked back by Dixon’s rifle butt. T-dog went down but struggled to keep up and Dixon kept coming down on him, slamming him against piping and kicking him when he was on the ground.

Deciding not to get involved yet, Rick hung almost boredly around the edges of the group as the others yelled at Dixon to stop, but also stayed out of his way while he beat T-dog. Finally Morales tried to stop him only to be hit away easily,and Dixon pulled out a gun on T-dog with Andrea pleading not to kill as if she hadn't pulled a gun on Rick only minutes earlier.

Spitting on T-dog then finally standing, Dixon looked like he had made up his mind about something.

“Alright, it seems like its time for us to have ourselves a little powwow. Talk about who's in charge here. I vote me! Anyone else? Come on, show of hands, all in favor?” The rest of the group besides the dark haired woman who was tending to T-dog, they slowly rose their hands to show allegiance to the man. “Yeah good, that means I’m the boss don’t it. Anybody else?”

It was now Rick’s chance to attack, deciding it wasn’t fine by him to follow this wannabe alpha asshole’s lead. So picking up the rifle Dixon had dropped, he walked up behind the man.

“Yeah,” just as Dixon turned he slammed the butt of the rifle into the hick’s face. “Me.”

He made short work of pinning and cuffing the man, and then sitting him up against the piping by his vest.

“Who the hell are you man?” Dixon said groaning and Rick got real close to his face, wanting to intimidate him into submission if possible.

“Officer friendly.” Grabbing the man's gun he took the magazine from it and released the clip with it’s bullet inside, completely disarming the weapon just as he had it’s wielder. “Listen here Merle, things are different now. There are no ‘niggers’ anymore, no dumb as shit inbred white trash fools neither. There’s just dark meat and light meat; there’s us and the dead. We survive this by pulling together, not apart.”

“Screw you man.”

“I can see you make a habit of missing the point.”

“Yeah? Well screw you twice.” Temper flaring, Rick pulled his own loaded gun and put it to Merle’s temple.

“You oughta be more polite to a man with a gun. Only common sense.” Snarling the redneck’s own words back at him

“You wouldn't, you're a cop.”

“All I am is a man looking for his wife and his son. Anyone who gets in the way of that is going to lose. I’ll give you a moment to think about that.” Rick’s voice had dropped to nearly a whisper, his words as cold and deadly as ice as he stared the Dixon down.

Searching the man’s pocket’s he grabbed onto seemed to be metal, and as soon as his skin touched it pain flared up that hurt more than any mortal injury. Reflexively taking his hand back as if it had been a snake in Merle’s pocket not a round of iron, Rick could see the burned flesh where it had made contact, and so did Merle.

Rick’s back was to the rest of the group, but he still was facing Merle completely, and so the redneck hick he had just beat down and cuffed was able to see the iron burns and the way Rick’s eyes flicked black at the pain.

“Just a man looking for his family my ass.” Merle growled like an animal in a trap, before jerking with his freehand and pulling a flask from his pants pocket quicker than Rick could react. He was, however, able to knock it out of Dixon’s hand before he could get the cap off and then Rick round back and punched Merle in the head hard enough to knock him out.

Thinking fast he searched Merle’s other pocket and found something he could use to explain the odd interaction to the others.

It seemed the hunter’s downfall was the drugs he used to escape. Brandishing the vial of cocaine enough to let the others see it as he stood and walked over to the edge of the roof and threw it over.

Needing to gather his thoughts Rick walked to the other edge of the roof and looked over his shaking hand where the burns left by the iron were almost healed. Slower than normal but due to the exertion and weakness of his body it was understandable. He closed his hand and lowered his arm as he heard Morales lean against the edge next to him.

“You’re not Atlanta PD. Where are you from?” Rick cast a calculating glance at Morales, trying to find if he saw anything that would uncover Rick like Merle had, but it seemed like he was only genuinely curious as to where Rick had come from.

“Down the road a ways.” Rick’s response was tinged with wry humor that he only understood. He was from farther down the road than this man would conceive possible.

“Well Officer Friendly, from down the road a ways; welcome to the big city.”


	3. Salvation in your heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was hoping to get to Rick and Daryl's meeting this chapter, but it felt right ending it where I did, and it's pretty late so I figure some chapter is better than none. Hopefully the next chapter will be up relatively quicker, and sorry for the wait on this one!

Rick walked back to the rest of the group and listened to them try fruitlessly to get into contact with the rest of their group. The streets were filled with walkers, so many that back before the rise of the dead and his creator, and before the fall of man, he would have thought there was a parade or some other festival going on.

“We have some people outside the city, there's no refuge center or anything, that’s just a pipe dream.” Rick would've figured that out himself from the state of the city and just how many walkers were about, but he held his tongue on the subject and took up another.

“Well we’re on our own in any case, its up to us to get out of here.” Rick racked his mind to think of a way they could avoid the undead that now wandered, and so he turned to Glenn. “How much do you know about the city’s underground? Have you seen any manholes in the alley we could get to?”

Glenn ran to the edge and then turned back to Rick simply giving a shake of his head, but the woman with black hair who had tended to T-dog spoke up.

“Old building like this, built in the twenties would drainage tunnels into the sewers in case of flooding in the sub-basements.” Rick had to admit his opinion of the human grew just slightly with her show of competence.

They all went down and just as Jackie said there would be, the drainage tunnels were there and open, and Glenn went down and elected to take Morales with him.

As they were down there Rick went back to the storefront to see how much progress the walkers had made with their breaking down the glass doors. If anything there seemed to be a few more walkers.

“Sorry about the gun in your face…” Andrea who had followed him spoke up looking sheepish. It was an olive branch of conversation, one that Rick didn't feel like taking up. With no response Andrea went on. “Though, to be fair, you did get us into this mess.”

“And I’ll get you all out of it.” Said with certainty he looked to the woman as she loitered around the jewelry shelf.

“Well that would be a start.” Rick looked at her and assessed the woman, so far his opinion of the blonde was neutral, although pushing to the negative side.

Giving no response he walked back out of the storefront to wait for Glenn and Morales at the opening of the drainage tunnel. It was a few minutes longer until he could hear the faint sounds of their footsteps, but before he could see them a crash came from the storefront that sent him running to investigate.

The walkers had broken through the first of two sets of glass doors and were rushing to do the same to the second set.

Wanting to get to a vantage point to see if he could find another way out Rick rushed up to the roof once again, and the rest of the group followed behind him.

Merle still hadn't woken, which Rick was thankful for. Walking to the edge of the roof Morales seemed to know what Rick was doing and handed him a pair of binoculars.

In the distance Rick could see a construction site with vans still there, and through that, his way out. Turning he explained his idea, and with contributions from the rest Rick made his decision and the plan on how to do it was laid out.

They were to cut open a walker, coat themselves in it’s stench so much so that Rick doubted even his hellhounds would recognize his scent, and then with luck, slip through the horde of walkers unnoticed and to the vans. Rick knew he would do it, and Glenn was also to come, and without further ado they went back down to street level to find their victims.

Rick was the one that as soon as the door was shut he took up and axe and hacked into the bodies, reducing them to nearly unrecognizable puddles of meat and dark blood. The others seemed stricken by the gore, but after Rick finished slowly started to smear the blood and meat onto the clothing and coats Rick and Glenn had put over their normal clothing.

“Do we smell like them?” Rick asked them, wanting confirmation on their disguise, and got several nauseated nods in response.

Rick saw and heard a little of what Andrea was saying to Glenn as she handed him her gun with justification of ‘just in case’. Rick wondered at the bonds within the group, and thought of the gravity of the gamble Andrea was willing to take with Glenn, and by extension himself. If the walkers broke through before Glenn came back, they’d be out a gun, and if Rick and Glenn got overwhelmed or just left without coming back it severely diminished the chance of the rest of the group’s survival, but she put that much trust into Glenn and Rick getting there and coming back.

Rick had yet to decide if she was stronger or weaker for her trust.

They were all taking a large gamble on this working however; himself and Glenn putting themselves on the line and right in the middle of a bunch of walker was, needless to say, dangerous. The weight of the key to Merle’s cuffs weighed in Rick’s pocket, and he wondered if perhaps he should give it to another encase the guts wore off or something happened. But then again, the redneck was a hunter, a hunter who knew the truth of Rick, and if it all went well the others would want to free Merle and bring him with. Besides, with Merle’s personality alone didn't agree with Rick’s own, so he figured it was for the best in every case if he didn't come back with.

Decision made, Rick reached for the ax and again continued hacking the walker for more blood and guts as camouflage.

They left and entered the street filled with the risen dead and walked among them, unnoticed but by the living watching with bated breath on the rooftops. Rick stumbled with Glenn through the streets, their progress almost agonizingly slow, but it was progress nonetheless. As the rain started to come down Rick tried to speed their progress, but as the blood washed away he broke into a dead sprint with Glenn to get to the trucks before the mass of walkers tore them apart.

They hit and climbed the fence with speed that was nearly unreachable had it not been for the adrenaline in Glenn’s body and the superhuman abilities of Rick’s disposition. Once over they both striped of the blood covered coats as Glenn ran for the keys and Rick made the quick decision to lay down cover fire.

“Rick!” Glenn threw the keys he had found to Rick and after Rick caught them he bolted to the closest truck and into it as he jammed the keys into the ignition. Throwing the truck into reverse, a walker attacked Glenn’s window, but was left as the truck reversed and then when Rick threw it into drive and turned to get out of the construction site. Behind them the hoard that had accumulated from their walk in the streets and the later noise busted down the fence, but were quickly becoming smaller and smaller as Rick kept his foot to the floor on the gas pedal.

Busting through the final gate and onto the highway Rick’s mind was racing, trying to think of his chances to convince Glenn it would be better just to leave his friends for dead.

“God, oh God, they’re all over that place!” Glenn was in a panic and Rick’s hands tightened on the wheel. He’d need Glenn’s cooperation to find his group, and from just looking at Glenn -who was obviously not even thinking of abandonment- it seemed it wasn't in the cards if Rick wanted to keep with the kid.

Dammit.

“If we’re saving your friends you need to draw the walkers away. Those roll up doors at the front of the store? That’s the area I need cleared.” Glenn tried to protest but Rick cut over his voice. “Raise your friends; tell them to get down there and be ready.”

“I’m drawing the geeks away how? I missed that part.”

“Noise,” Rick looked away from the road and to Glenn and saw a hardening in his face, the face of a human when they’re determined to do something. It might’ve been much too much of a stretch to say the demon could feel anything close to affection, but perhaps a small grudging respect for the human was beginning to form. Respect, although hard won, was something demons were more familiar with.

After a few minutes Glenn saw the car he wanted, and with no walkers in sight it seemed as good as any. Grabbing a crowbar out of the truck, Rick smashed through the window as the alarm blared, got in the car, and hot wired it for Glenn, and then off the kid went.

Driving the truck, Rick could see and hear Glenn trailing behind, and then pass him as he made his way back to the store. Rick slowed and allowed Glenn more time to get there and distract them before Rick would get to the hopefully empty store.

Screeching around the corner, Rick noted there were still geeks about, but noticeably less, and threw the truck back into reverse and brought it up to the rolling up doors where the others should be. Climbing into the back of the truck, Rick brought the door up and then banged twice on the store’s door, which went up immediately after and bags were thrown into the back of the moving truck.

Once they scrambled inside Rick was nearly in the drivers seat when T-Dog asked the question he was hoping wouldn't be brought u till they were gone.

“Wait! What about Dixon?” Rick looked around outside and then turned to the man, as well as the others.

“We don’t have time to go back to the roof and haul his unconscious ass back down, we’ll be overrun. We have to go now,” as if to punctuate his words a walker came up to the drivers side window and started banging on it. With a final look around, it was apparent that although most didn't seem comfortable with it, the decision had been made.

Rick found himself pleased with the outcome, though he forced himself to look grim, and shifted the truck forward as one of the others in back put the door down.

With Morales directing him the way back, Rick spend down the roads with the rest of the group, leaving the ruined city behind.

 

The city was long behind them when someone finally spoke again.

“No one’s going to be sad you know, that Merle didn't come back. Except, maybe Daryl.”

“Daryl?”

“His brother.” Shit. Rick forced himself not to show his frustration at the new bit of news, and looked away from Morales and back to the road. In honesty, he should have expected it, hunters liked to work in twos or threes, and family, siblings especially typically worked together.

Just as the skin-suit Lucifer was wearing.

As if the need for a distraction was felt, Glenn came speeding by in the Corvette whooping at the top of his lungs, nearly louder than the still screeching alarm, with a fist out the window.

“At least someone’s having a good day.” Rick glanced to the man in the passenger seat but decided to not add a bitter remark.

 

It was a while longer before the road turned to dirt, and Morales confirmed they were nearly there. Following a short distance from Glenn, they finally pulled into what seemed to be a camp, at long last.

From what Rick could see there was a group surrounding Glenn, and all the others excitedly got out of the truck, eager to join them.

Rick took a deep breath, not nervous per se, but more tired than anything. It wasn’t something he was used to feeling, and that fact stressed him more than any other, which only made the affliction worsen. But he had to continue his search, in the moment he took to orient himself for another gauntlet, although less dangerous than the last, he thought of ways to begin his search in earnest.

“Hey helicopter boy! Come say hello!” Grudgingly Rick got out of truck cab taking a few steps and just looking at his shoes, unsure if he really wanted to be exposed to more human contact at the moment.

Looking up though Rick met an unexpected sight, one in the form of his partner, Shane. He’d known the man longer than he’d known Lori, although not by much, and the man had been his right hand in nearly everything, and even if he irritated Rick near the point of lashing out at times, he was good to have with.

It was then that Rick’s eyes slid to something even more precious, the only thing that the demon knew he loved. Carl, and with Lori kneeling before the child, they caught sight of Rick when he did them.

“Carl,” Rick couldn't help but stagger slightly in disbelief and shock, and breathe out the name of his son.

“Dad!” Carl screamed his name and tore out of Lori’s arms like a bullet from a chamber, running to Rick with all the speed his little legs could give him. Rick forced himself not to run to his child, but couldn't help but walk and scoop up Carl when he finally had his arms around him. Rick held his son close and tightly for a moment before picking him up and carrying him still tight in the embrace to where Lori stood in shock. She wrapped her arms around him and their son after only a moment’s hesitation, and then tensed and even through the relief and crushing humanity of emotions that cascaded upon him at the reunion with it son and wife, Rick still noticed it, but ignored it for now, and just clung all the tighter to the two of them.


End file.
